Morning Links: Ancient Cheese Edition

Nico Avina says that erasures of Virgin Mary murals are signs of gentrification in L.A. neighborhoods. For a new project, Avina will place his Virgen work—a 7-and-a-half-foot Virgin Mary holding an eviction notice—in various locations around Boyle Heights. [Los Angeles Times]

Calvin Tomkinsprofiles Alex Katz, who discusses his influences, family, and the reception of his largely figurative work:“You know, pretty girls, flowers, you can’t be serious. I refuse to make sincere art. Sincere art is art that relies on subject matter to carry it. An honest painter is one who doesn’t paint very well. And it shows!” [The New Yorker]

As part of an initiative called “Art Courts,” which was organized by the United States Tennis Association in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open, artists in five American cities are creating vibrant designs on tennis courts. [The New York Times]

The MoMA Local 2110 union has reached an agreement for a new contract with the museum’s management. The five-year contract includes a seniority step program for pay raises as well as amendments to the institution’s health-care plan. [ARTnews]

An exhibition at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence traces exchanges between the Italian city and the Islamic world over a 500-year period, beginning with the Renaissance. Eike Schmidt, the museum’s director,said, “I felt that among all the possible exhibitions, this would be a particular priority. Oftentimes, there is a lack of knowledge about and comprehension of other cultures, especially Islamic culture.” [The New York Times]

Mishaps

A man was hospitalized after falling in an Anish Kapoor installation at the Fundação de Serralves, Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal. The work in question, Descent into Limbo, includes a hole that is about 8-feet deep, though it remains unclear if the visitor slipped into it or beside it. [The Art Newspaper]

Sartorial News

Take a look at photographs from Congo fashion week, which took place in the country’s capital, Kinshasa. Nancy Kondo, who developed and coordinated the event, said, “We’re using fashion to change people’s mindsets. Congolese people are the frontrunners of African fashion.” [The Guardian]

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, a nonprofit in Illinois, may auction off several of the president’s possessions—including one of his stovepipe hats and a pair of bloodstained gloves from the night he was assassinated—to pay off more than $9 million in debt. [The New York Times]

Miscellaneous

The world’s most ancient solid cheese, which is around 3,300 years old, has been found in an Egyptian tomb. The jury’s out on whether the cheese was made from cow, sheep, or goat milk. [Hyperallergic]

Here’s a brief piece on depictions of animals in medieval bestiaries and other medieval artworks, and how these creatures embodied Christian allegories. [Atlas Obscura]